Rachel Swarns

NYU professor. NYT contributing writer. Author of THE 272: The harrowing story of the Catholic Church and slavery and one family’s indomitable will to survive.

[Carol Marbin Miller @MarbinMiller]

This will be a long thread. Please stick with it.

The Miami Herald, one of the premier legacy newspapers in America, laid off or wrote off more than 30 positions today – well over one-third of its editorial staff. The cuts include crucial accountability beats. (1)

[Christopher Hale @ChristopherHale]

NEW: Pope Leo XIV’s new archbishop of New York, Ronald Hicks, celebrates the Knicks’ title with Mayor Zohran Mamdani at the city’s Puerto Rican festival.

[Archdiocese of New York @NY_Arch]

Alleluia!!!

[Catholic Sat @CatholicSat]

This is the reason the Knicks are NBA Champions. Spike Lee knew what he was doing.

[Ben Stiller @BenStiller]

This is incredible

KNICKS ARE CHAMPS

NEW YORK 💙🧡HOME

[Howard W. French @hofrench]

This is excellent work, by Declan Walsh. https://t.co/gdu429krtZ

[Martha S. Jones @marthasjones_]

This morning, I went down a rabbit hole -- and discovered a new clue to the life story of Mr. Johns Hopkins.

https://t.co/K5rNpvKjmd

[Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns]

Catholic priests enslaved more than 3,000 in Paraguay; more than a thousand in Chile; more than a thousand in Ecuador. Did you know that? We should all know that. I shared these thoughts and others about Pope Leo’s apology for slavery in America magazine https://t.co/yh1wqmewyL

[Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns]

I suspect that Pope Leo’s apology for the church’s role in slavery will resonate far beyond the U.S - including in Latin America. Research indicates that Catholic priests enslaved more than 5,000 people in Brazil; more than 5,000 in Peru, where Pope Leo spent more than 20 years.

[Martha S. Jones @marthasjones_]

"You will encounter people who will encourage you to fear the past: those who want to be sure that hard history is forgotten, suppressed, even whitewashed. Don’t believe them." https://t.co/33JQMWNt6d

[Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns]

Catholic priests enslaved more than 3,000 in Paraguay; more than a thousand in Chile; more than a thousand in Ecuador. Did you know that? We should all know that. I shared these thoughts and others about Pope Leo’s apology for slavery in America magazine https://t.co/yh1wqmewyL

[Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns]

I suspect that Pope Leo’s apology for the church’s role in slavery will resonate far beyond the U.S - including in Latin America. Research indicates that Catholic priests enslaved more than 5,000 people in Brazil; more than 5,000 in Peru, where Pope Leo spent more than 20 years.

[Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns]

@PhillyPeteM @saintjudejones Yes! I am acquainted with their work!

[Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns]

I have spent nearly a decade documenting the Catholic Church’s involvement in the American slave trade, but this news hit me first as a Black Catholic. I have held tight to my faith, as the church has begun grappling with this history, and today I feel so deeply moved.

[Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns]

I have spent nearly a decade documenting the Catholic Church’s involvement in the American slave trade, but this news hit me first as a Black Catholic. I have held tight to my faith, as the church has begun grappling with this history, and today I feel so deeply moved.

[Howard W. French @hofrench]

What a fine day this is to be able to share my first, finished copy of my new book, The Second Emancipation, pre-orders available, out in August.

[Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns]

I loved telling this story. It is the story of slavery in the North, all too often overlooked, and the story of the unexpected friendship between two women – one Black and one white – who confronted this history together. In these times, that feels like a balm.

[Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns]

That marked the beginning of a journey that has carried Bruno from the archives in upstate New York – where she documented her family’s enslavement of scores of people – to Washington, DC where she finally met a descendant linked to a family her ancestors had enslaved.

[Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns]

Debra Bruno loved telling stories about her Dutch ancestors in upstate New York...until a historian told her: “If you have Dutch ancestors in the Hudson Valley, they were probably slave owners.” https://t.co/dUVPpJzK3u

[Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns]

@therockyfiles Thanks for sharing this!